Chapter 3

Oleander leaves were highly toxic, and everyone knew it. Yet as long as Roxanne liked them, Vincent could make them bloom in the Frostwell household all year.

I once feared someone might eat them by mistake. I argued against planting a poisonous flower in the courtyard.

Roxanne cried herself sick over it. "Does Vicky hate me so much that she will not even let you plant flowers for me, Vince?"

Vincent pulled her behind him and sneered at me. "If you want to target Roxy, at least come up with a better excuse. Who would ever eat something this bitter by accident? Anyone would spit it out the moment it touched their mouth."

I never imagined it would become the tool that finally let me leave.

The sharp, overwhelming bitterness exploded across my tongue. Nausea surged. I forced it down and swallowed.

This time, I was really going home.

Vincent dropped the box and rushed forward. He slapped my back hard, then pried my mouth open with rough fingers, scraping and digging inside.

"Spit it out!" he shouted. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

I struggled wildly. Half my body went numb. I clenched my teeth and refused to let go, biting down until his fingers bled.

He sucked in a sharp breath and struck my face.

"Just because the Crown Prince does not want you anymore, you want to die like this?" he snarled. "Where is the backbone of the Frostwell family? Roxy and His Highness are a match made in heaven. After four years in the Withered Court, have you still not figured that out?"

Ignoring his bleeding hand, he ordered the maids to bring an emetic pill and forced it down my throat.

I vomited until the world spun. I collapsed onto the ground like discarded mud and let out a hoarse, broken laugh.

"So this is the Frostwell family's backbone?" I said weakly. "You did not even bother to investigate. You decided I hurt Roxanne and drove your own sister out of the house?"

Vincent's face drained of color. He had nothing to say.

Suddenly, frantic hoofbeats thundered outside.

A young steward in green rushed in, panic written across his face. He bowed to Henry. "Grand Administrator! His Highness orders you to bring the disgraced Consort Frostwell into the palace for questioning. Lady Roxanne is missing!"

Henry and Vincent exchanged a glance, then turned together and glared at me on the ground.

"No wonder you kept staging suicide scenes," Vincent snapped. "So this was to cover up your crime. Where did you hide Roxy? What are you planning to do to her now?"

I truly had no idea where Roxanne had gone. Still, this was the perfect chance. They loved her more than their own lives. Maybe they would lose control and kill me.

They did not wait for an answer. They dragged my filthy, half-dead body back into the palace.

-

The Crown Prince, Caelum Valebrook, did not waste words. He reached out and seized my chin, forcing my head up. "Where is Roxy?"

I met the gaze of the man who had once been my husband in this world. Regret surged like bile.

When I first met Caelum, he had been hunted and wounded at the bottom of a mountain ravine. I hid him in a cave and led his pursuers away.

That happened just after Roxanne took my fiancé. My childhood sweetheart, the young general, broke our engagement. I became the capital's laughingstock.

Caelum learned of it and offered himself in marriage. He gave me the title of Crown Princess. He said it was not only repayment. He said he was moved.

Once Roxanne appeared, Caelum's gaze drifted to her again and again. They admired the moon together, played chess, and talked for hours. There was no longer room for me.

When Roxanne disappeared, Caelum used punishment on me for the first time.

When the whip struck my lower abdomen, blood soaked the floor. Only then did I learn I had been carrying a child. Not yet full-term, and lost just like that.

I did not answer. A flicker of killing intent crossed Caelum's eyes.

"It seems that unless you suffer a little, you will not speak," he said coolly.

He ordered the torture devices brought in.

Henry carried out the punishment himself. Vincent fed me pills that kept me conscious and sharpened every sensation of pain.

Panic finally broke through. I wanted to die, but I did not want to suffer before I did. I struggled desperately.

The first whip cracked across my back. Pain tore through me and raced into every limb. My lips trembled, yet no scream came.

"Kill me," I whispered.

Caelum watched with cold interest, the corner of his mouth lifting.

"You think I will go soft?" he asked. "I will ask you one last time. Where is Roxy?"

I lifted my head. My face had lost all color. I smiled with ugly triumph.

"Roxanne?" I said. "I killed her. You all love her so much, do you not? Go on. Kill me and avenge her."

Caelum's eyes burned red. He drew his sword and drove it straight into my chest.

As my awareness shattered, Roxanne's voice sounded outside the hall. "Everyone's here? Then we can have a reunion night. Ah. Why is there so much blood?"